Friday, September 05, 2008

105 Trip: (Thur 04-Sep) Day 12 - Thunder Bay, ON - 3362 miles

Sunrise, as seen in this picture, was awesome. Was cold - around 54. Then hit a detour and through a small town and the bank said it was 48!

Going across the bridge was cool and I stopped and took a few pics of the island, then continued north. Got to Sault Ste Marie w/o incident and hit the border crossing.
  • First guy asked me where I was going, what I was doing, and what I did for a living. Wrote some stuff down, handed me a yellow piece of paper and said "Pull forward, park and take that inside and show them your papers."
  • Second guy - cop looking: "Where are you heading?" - "OK... take your papers inside" - didn't seem to friendly.
  • Third guy - young guy at the far end; waves to me, and took my papers. Asked me the same questions, how long was I going to be there, etc. Gave me everything back and said "OK - have a nice visit."
  • Second guy - waiting by the bike still. "Did he keep the yellow paper?" - "Yes" - "OK. Be on your way." Yikes!

Then I had to pull over to get a Canada picture... figuring he'd be right after me, but it was all good. Took some shots going over the bridge - cool - right over the locks - and then headed north.

The rest of the day was spent trying to make small towns. The third guy said I could make it to the "Canadian Carver" trading post and gas up there - that I didn't have to make it all the way to Wawa. So I stopped there and bought some stuff for Kian and Jaimer. Then on to Wawa. Ate lunch there at the 17th place (its in the pics I uploaded to facebook). Service wasn't that great, but the food was hearty and good. Excellent since I was cold. Then heading north again.

ON is BEAUTIFUL. I loved it. Kind of a mix between Montana/Colorado mountains, but with tons of mountain lakes and rivers... and a great lake! I'd be riding along in the mountains, and come around a corner and drop down to the lake. Crashing waves along the rocking coast line; then back up into the mountains, by a mountain lake, then back down to the coast again. Excellent bike riding - not too twisty, didn't drop speed too much, but windy and great roads (at least most of the way).

Finally made it into Thunder Bay - cold and a little damp, and there was a bike in front of me. Followed it here and there (when I was in the same lane) and then he got ready to turn and it was my turn too. I saw the Best Western so headed towards it - and the Harley dealer was across the street! So I pulled in, and there was the guy I had been following.

We chatted for a bit "Where ya from? Where you going." With a few "eh?"s thrown in there. :) It was a good talk. Then asked him where I might find a good local place to eat. He said, "Well right behind that building is Naxos. Its Greek, not local, but the food is really good.

So I went back to the Hotel; got settled in, and then tried it. It was EXCELLENT. Had,
  • A pink spread for an appetizer. I had it before in DC - I think it was the same stuff. Made with carp eggs if I remember right. Yeah, its great.
  • Avgolemond - a lemon rice soup
  • Mousaka - I've had it once before in DC, and this was better. The tomato sauce / meat mixture was very meaty and had a rich taste. The eggplant was great. And the Béchamel was awesome. While the dish is tall enough that you might be tempted to eat some of the eggplant/tomato w/o the Béchamel... don't! Part of the overall taste is the rich tomato (almost like a spaghetti sauce) mixture along with the baked Béchamel that is on top. Eat them together and its a great taste!
  • The Mythos Greek beer!
  • Baklava - dense phillo with lots of honey, cinnamon and nuts, and finally
  • A Baileys Coffee! Just the thing to take the chill off and finish off the meal

Did I mention it was awesome! Perfect end to the day!

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